416 



GLEANINGS IN UEE CULTURE. 



JuiJii 



place of their own accord, pointing toward the cen- 

 ter. See cut. To get the proper inclination of the 

 frames, the lower arms, G, should be 5 ni. longer 

 than the upper, and let there be as much inclina- 

 tion to the shaft D. 



Our readers can readily reduce the Frencli 

 meter to inches by reckoning 100 centimeters 

 as 40 inches, which is not exact, but sufii- 

 ciently so for this purpose. 



This matter of making extractors so that 

 the combs may be reversed wiien the ma- 

 chine is turned the other way. is very old. 

 Perhaps it would be difficult to say wlietlier 

 it came up lirst in our own country or 

 across the water. Most of these machines 

 have been, however, after a time deemed 

 impracticable ; although wlieie thei'e are 

 large apiaries, perhaps the machine may be 

 found a; labor-saving investment. Within 

 the past year or two the matter seems to 

 have been getting into practicable sliape. 

 .and I believe there are a number of om- 

 American bee-keepers now using the auto- 

 matic honey-extractors. We shall be glad 

 to hear reports from bee-men wiio have used 

 them a season through. Tlie hexagonal 

 form shown above, and adopted by our 

 friends across the water, seems to have some 

 considerable advantages. If 1 am correct, a 

 .machine to hold six Langstroth combs need 

 be little if any larger than one to hold four, 

 the combs standing on end, of coiuse. An- 

 other thing, for so large a machine no pul- 

 lies nor belting is needed, nor arrangement 

 of any kind for multiplying the speed. A 

 crank attached directly to the center-shaft 

 will give all the speed desired, and especial- 

 ly would this be tlie case where the extractor 

 holds six combs instead of four. 



FLOEIDA. 



ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAfJKS FOR UEK- 

 KEEPERS. 



fHERE seems to be much general interest 

 among bee-keepers regarding anj' informa- 

 tion about this State; and as I have spent 

 considerable of both time and money in 

 gaining what information I could regarding 

 its adaptability to bee culture, perhaps a statement 

 of the little knowledge I have gathered together 

 may save others the trouble and expense of going 

 over the same ground. 



I want to say, however, that this searching after 

 bee-knowledge in Florida has been a wonderfully 

 pleasant work to both my wife and myself, and I 

 am afraid we should be tempted to make a life 

 work of it if we were able to do so. 



Florida is alone and unique among the States of 

 our Union, as regards nearly all the essential condi- 

 tions of climate, soil, productions, etc.; and on this 

 account one can not, hope to convey any thing like 

 a correct impression of the conditions existing 

 there, short of writing a book ; and even then it w 

 be afmost impossible for any one to get any idea of 

 what the State really is, without a residence there 

 of some time. It is hard for a person to understand 

 any thing that is so radically different in nearly all 

 respects from any thing we have ever seen, as is 

 Florida; and for this reason, the State is almost 

 always either over or under estimated by nearly 

 every one, especially by transient visitors or short- 



time residents. It will be readily seen, that no 

 short sketch can possibly give much information, 

 except to those who are already somewhat familiar 

 with the State. 



Again, the State is nearly 40() miles in length, 

 north and south; and being nearly or quite on the 

 frost-line, gives to different sections that peculiar 

 difference in climate that makes a much more radi- 

 cal difference in vegetation than is anywhere 

 else in our country seen in such narrow limits. 

 Added to this is the fact that it is only within the 

 last four or five years since able, intelligent bee- 

 keepers first began to study the honey-producing 

 llora of the State, and it can readily be seen that no 

 person is yet able to give much more than a 

 glimpse of the actual honey resources of the State. 



Of course, the lirst thing any one intending to 

 keep bees in Florida needs to do is to become famil- 

 iar with its flora, which varies much in different 

 parts of the State, and still more so on the different 

 kinds of land. A description of these dififei-ent 

 kinds of land can be found in any description of 

 Florida, so I will name only the most important 

 kinds in the order of their general value; viz., high 

 hammock, low hammock, scrub hammock, higli 

 pine, low pine, swamp, bay heads, prairies, etc. On 

 the hammocks grow live and swamp oaks, cabbage 

 jjulmetto, magnolias, hickory, cedar, and a host 

 of other kinds of timber of lesser value, and a 

 large variety of tropical vines, shrubs, etc. On the 

 pine lands grow pine, two or thi-ee kinds of oaks of 

 little value; scrub, or saw palmetto, gallberry 

 bushes, wild pennyroyal, etc. In the swamps we 

 find cypress, maple, ash, gums, shrubs, vines, etc. 

 In the bay heads, nearly the same as in swamps, 

 with the addition of different varieties of bay-trees. 

 On the prairies, but little vegetation of value, un- 

 less it may be willow; and on the salt marshes 

 along the coast, black and red mangroves, and a 

 small plant whose name and description I can not 

 give, but am informed is of great value as a honey- 

 plant. 



The rule is the same in Florida as it is elsewhere, 

 that, while there are many different kinds of plants 

 that give some honey, the real surplus is obtained 

 from a very limited number. So far as we yet 

 know, the following are the most valuable honey 

 trees and plants in Florida, in the order of their 

 probable value: Black mangrove, decidedly the 

 most valuable of all, is found only on the coasts, 

 where its roots can be moistened l)y salt tide-water, 

 its extreme northern habitat being only a few miles 

 north of Mosquito Inlet, on the east coast, and about 

 the same latitude on the west coast. I could not 

 learn certainly how far south it grows, but think 

 around the entire south coast of the State. Its 

 season commences about the 5th of .June, and lasts 

 some eight or nine weeks, and yields very largely. 

 Cabbage palmetto comes next in value, its time of 

 flowering being from about June 1st until Aug 10th. 

 Saw palmetto and the gallberry bush are next, 

 their season being a little earlier than the first 

 named. Wild pennyroyal, as the natives call it, is, 1 

 think, a very valuable plant; its season is from the 

 1st of January to the middle of March. Bay-trees 

 are also said to be quite valuable, but I could learn 

 nothing positive. I also heard of a species of palmet- 

 to bearing blue flowers, and said to grow on the ex- 

 treme south-west coast, that is valuable, but I am 

 inclined to think its existence is more of a myth 

 than a reality. 



